After finally getting his opportunity to start for the Colorado Buffaloes, Julian “JuJu” Lewis wanted to get one more game to wrap up his freshman season.
CU head coach Deion Sanders is taking a long-term approach, however.
On Tuesday, Sanders announced that Lewis will not play Saturday in the regular season finale at Kansas State (10 a.m. MT, FS1) so that he can preserve his redshirt. Fifth-year senior Kaidon Salter will get the starting nod, while redshirt sophomore Ryan Staub will be the backup.
A five-star recruit in the 2025 class, Lewis has played in four games for the Buffs (3-8, 1-7 Big 12) this season, the maximum allowed to maintain a redshirt. If he were to play against the Wildcats, he would give up a year of eligibility.
“I’ve made a decision that JuJu is going to redshirt,” Sanders said. “Thatap my decision. I want whatap best for the kid, whatap best for his family, whatap best for this wonderful university that has given me the tremendous opportunity and giving him the opportunity.
“I think for the program itap best for everyone, but mainly itap great for him. I’m not going to say he was happy, because he’s a competitor. He wants to compete, he wants to play.”
Lewis graduated from Carrollton (Georgia) High School early, skipping his senior year to enroll at CU last January. He didn’t turn 18 until Sept. 21 and has spent most of the season in a backup role.
Through the first eight games, Lewis appeared just once, briefly in a 31-7 win against Delaware on Sept. 6. When Salter and Staub struggled mightily on Nov. 1 in a 52-17 loss to Arizona, however, Lewis played most of the second half.
Lewis then started the next two games, at West Virginia on Nov. 8 and against Arizona State last Saturday. On the season, Lewis is 52-of-94 (55.3%) for 589 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
At 3-8, CU is already looking ahead to its future and Sanders talked about a young core group of players to build around offensively, with Lewis being the headliner. In the new transfer portal era, there’s no guarantee Lewis will remain at CU, but he said after the ASU game that he is committed to the Buffs.
“Oh yeah. I’m a Buff through and through,” he said. “I got my crib out here. All my guys are out here. I don’t got no reason to go.”
With that, it made the most sense for Sanders and the Buffs to preserve Lewis’ redshirt, rather than play him against Kansas State.
Lewis figures to be the key piece to CU’s rebuild for 2026.
“He has a tremendous probability and opportunity to lead, and as each game goes and grows, you’re seeing more and more of that,” Sanders said. “You could give him some guidelines and some intangibles that he needs to work on, and he’s done that, man. So, I’m proud of the youngster. He hasn’t folded like a lawn chair.”
Sanders said he liked what he heard from Lewis as the Buffs went into the locker room trailing 13-7 on Saturday. CU had just 108 yards of offense, while Lewis was 8-for-20 for 44 yards.
“He was like, ‘Coach, I’m going to figure it out. I got it. I got it. I’m going to get it,’” Sanders said.
In the second half, Lewis was 11-for-18 for 117 yards and a touchdown.
“I know what he’s capable of doing,” Sanders said. “You’ve seen it. You’ve seen glimpses, and when you see a glimpse of something, all you need to add is practice, practice, practice, and then you’re going to see the consistent version of that.”
The consistent version will be put on hold, however, as the Buffs wrap up their season Saturday and give the reins of the offense back to Salter.
A fifth-year senior, Salter has started eight of 11 games for the Buffs, but has not appeared in a game since being benched during the first half against Arizona.
Salter has completed 113 of 179 passes (63.1%) for 1,242 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also rushed for 293 yards and five touchdowns.
